Londonderry regeneration funding gets minister's approval
Lyons said it will be used to revitalise "strategic properties within the Historic City Conservation Area".He said it is "an exciting time for the city" with a number of key projects under way, including the expansion of the university, public realm works, the City Deal and redevelopment of the Fort George site."All of these interventions are serving to enhance the city," Lyons said.
The Inner City Trust works to inject commercial and social life into Derry's city centre.Archdeacon Robert Miller chair of the trust, said the funding's approval is "a transformative moment for our city"."This investment will breathe new life into the heart of Derry, strengthening our heritage, supporting our economy, and ensuring our built environment serves the needs of future generations," he said.
'Visible good for Derry'
Foyle SDLP MP Column Eastwood said the fund "actually has the potential to transform public spaces and do real, visible good for Derry".Sinn Féin MLA Ciara Ferguson also welcomed the funding, adding it "will make the city a more attractive and vibrant place to live, work and socialise".DUP assembly member Gary Middleton said the funding is "a testament to our commitment to preserving our heritage while injecting new life and economic opportunity into our city centre".
Earlier this year, the Department of Communities provided a grant of more than £1m to allow the Inner City Trust to complete the purchase of the former Austins department store in Derry.
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The Sun
20 minutes ago
- The Sun
Another blow for Wagamama's founder as top restaurant loved by celebs including Rihanna & Drake is on edge of COLLAPSE
WAGAMAMA founder Alan Yau has been dealt another major blow – as Park Chinois, the star-studded London restaurant once favoured by Rihanna and Drake, is now on the verge of collapse. The celebrity hotspot in Mayfair has appointed administrators, raising fresh fears for its future. 3 3 The high-end Chinese restaurant, known for its opulent interiors and A-list clientele, has been a staple of London's luxury dining scene since opening in 2015. But now, the company behind it has fallen into trouble. Official filings show Philip Armstrong of FRP Advisory has been brought in as administrator, throwing the restaurant's future into serious doubt. It's unclear if the business will be sold, rescued, or wound down. Talks around a possible sale – either to a new buyer or a connected party – are ongoing. Located in London's glitzy Mayfair district, Park Chinois was founded by Alan Yau, the renowned restaurateur behind global brands Wagamama and Hakkasan. Although Yau is no longer involved, Park Chinois is part of Island Hospitality – a group headed by Sofija Mehta. The company's portfolio includes The Duck & Rice in Soho (also a Yau creation), Italian restaurant The Dover in Mayfair, and two venues in Ibiza – Chinois Ibiza and Beachouse Ibiza. At present, none of Island Hospitality's other venues appear to be impacted by Park Chinois's financial problems. Rising costs and labour shortages hit hard In its latest accounts, covering the year up to March 2023, Park Chinois revealed it had been hammered by rising food and energy costs, along with ongoing labour shortages. Directors said the restaurant had been battling "inflationary pressures in its supply chain" alongside "rising utilities costs." Despite turning a modest profit of £53,000, the previous year saw a hefty loss of £1.39 million. Plans had been drawn up to expand the Park Chinois brand globally – but those ambitions now hang in the balance. Park Chinois stood out in London's crowded restaurant scene for blending fine Chinese cuisine with rich, decadent décor and nightclub-style entertainment, a formula similar to that of Yau's earlier venture, Hakkasan. It was a go-to spot for those wanting dinner with drama, where plush interiors met live jazz and DJ sets. But high operating costs, combined with post- pandemic trading pressures, appear to have taken their toll. The administration of Park Chinois comes hot on the heels of another setback for Yau's restaurant legacy. Thai restaurant group Busaba, which he founded in 1999, was placed into administration just weeks ago. It was sold in a pre-pack deal on 16 July to Seaco Investments, led by finance executive Ronald Seacombe. The move saved around 240 jobs and ensured the survival of the long-running brand, which still operates six sites in London and one in Essex. 'Extremely challenging' trading period Administrator Leonard Curtis said the company had faced an 'extremely challenging trading period' and was 'at risk of closure if a sale via administration could not be secured.' What is happening to the hospitality industry? By Laura McGuire FIVE years on from the pandemic and UK hospitality groups are still picking up the pieces. While restrictions and social distancing are well in the past, businesses are now dealing with a plethora of other issues such as hikes to National Insurance and customers having little money to part with at the till. Brewdog will close 10 pubs this weekend, including its flagship site in Aberdeen and a branch. Elsewhere, French-inspired brasserie Côte is being auctioned off by private equity firm Partners Group. The company is working together with Interpath Advisory to seek out fresh investors for the embattled restaurant chain, Sky News first reported. The chain has more than 70 sites across the UK, down from close to 100 shortly before it collapsed into insolvency five years 60 of its remaining sites are thought to be profitable - meaning there is a risk of more closures. Joint administrator Neil Bennett added: 'Busaba has experienced tough trading conditions over the past few years, in line with the hospitality industry in general, including the negative consequences of the cost-of-living crisis, inflation and a substantial increase in utilities costs.' Details of the deal have not been disclosed. Once a pioneer in the casual dining space, Busaba at one point operated 13 London locations and launched sites in cities like Manchester, Liverpool and St Albans – even venturing into Dubai under franchise. But nearly all of its out-of-town sites have since shut. A recent attempt to expand again into Cardiff and Oxford also failed, with both locations closing in 2023. The chain entered a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) in 2020 and has now scaled back its ambitions to focus solely on London and nearby areas. Rocky roads Alan Yau, who rose to fame in the 1990s after founding Wagamama, is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in British dining. But the troubles facing both Park Chinois and Busaba show how even big names aren't immune to the pressures battering the UK's hospitality sector. As soaring costs, staff shortages and squeezed customer spending continue to bite, some of London's most famous food brands are fighting to stay afloat. The Sun has approached Wagamama for comment. What does going into administration mean? WHEN a company enters into administration, all control is passed to an appointed administrator. The administrator has to leverage the company's assets and business to repay creditors any outstanding debts. Once a company enters administration, a "moratorium" is put in place which means no legal action can be taken against it. Administrators write to your creditors and Companies House to say they've been appointed. They try to stop the company from being liquidated (closing down), and if it can't it pays as much of a company's debts from its remaining assets. The administrator has eight weeks to write a statement explaining what they plan to do to move the business forward. This must be sent to creditors, employees and Companies House and invite them to approve or amend the plans at a meeting. A Notice of Intention is used to inform concerning parties that a company intends to enter administration. It is a physical document which is submitted to court, usually by directors aiming to prevent a company from being liquidated. Like with a standard administration process, a Notice of Intention stops creditors from taking out any legal action over a company while they try and rectify the business. 3
The Guardian
20 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Labour urged to consider wealth tax as Reeves visits Scotland
Update: Date: 2025-08-01T10:17:24.000Z Title: the Treasury should consider a wealth tax to close the growing gap in the public finances, according to a', 'Labour', 'former shadow chancellor Content: Former shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds said ministers must be frank about 'really big decisions' in autumn budget Tom Ambrose Fri 1 Aug 2025 11.17 BST First published on Fri 1 Aug 2025 09.28 BST From 9.28am BST 09:28 Good morning and welcome to the UK politics blog. My name is Tom Ambrose and I'll be bringing you all the latest news lines throughout the day. We start with news that the Treasury should consider a wealth tax to close the growing gap in the public finances, according to a Labour former shadow chancellor. Anneliese Dodds, who held the role under Keir Starmer in opposition, said ministers must have a 'full and frank discussion' with the public about the 'really big decisions' they had to take at this autumn's budget. With Rachel Reeves aiming to fill a financial hole that economists say could exceed £20bn, the senior Labour MP said there was 'no silver bullet' to funding big-ticket items such as defence, but the chancellor should consider tax rises. Dodds quit her post as international development minister in February over the government's decision to slash the aid budget to pay for increased defence spending – a move she said was a mistake that would have a big impact on global security. With Russia and China already stepping into the gap to boost their own global influence, she said now was not the time for the UK to be 'walking back' from using soft power. Read the full report here: Reeves is visit Scotland later today. She will visit RAF Lossiemouth in Moray and the St Fergus gas plant in Aberdeenshire on Friday. The chancellor is expected to meet with 200 Boeing employees at the Lossiemouth military base, where three E-7 Wedgetail aircraft are being worked on, the National reports. The UK government has previously said that its plan to increase defence spending to 2.6% of GDP could boost the economy by around 0.3% and create 26,100 jobs in Scotland. In other developments: The UK's plan to recognise a Palestinian state is compliant with international law, a minister has said, after a group of peers raised concerns that it did not meet the legal bar. Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, defended the fact that the government's plan for recognising Palestinian statehood does not involve firm 'conditions' being placed on Hamas, saying the government could not make the decision conditional on what Hamas does because it does not negotiate with terrorist organisations. Nine out of 10 nurses have rejected their 3.6% pay award for this year and warned that they could strike later this year unless their salaries are improved. Mary-Ann Stephenson has been confirmed as the new chair of the equalities watchdog, after the government overruled the objections of parliament's equalities committee over her suitability for the job. 11.17am BST 11:17 Private companies running special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) schools should face a cap on their profits to curb 'shameless profiteering,' the Liberal Democrats have said. The party commissioned research revealing that some firms are raking in tens of millions of pounds a year, with profit margins topping 20%, BBC News reported. Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Munira Wilson said profits should be limited to 8% to prevent funds intended for SEND children from being diverted 'into the pockets of shareholders.' In response to the findings, the government said Labour was pushing schools to prioritise 'improving children's outcomes – not excessive profit-making.' Analysis from the House of Commons Library, carried out for the Lib Dems, found that several major SEND education providers – including some backed by offshore private equity firms – have seen sharp increases in profits in recent years. One provider reportedly earned more than £44 million in profit on a turnover of £208 million, with profits rising by 60% in just two years. Another recorded £20.9 million in profit from £194.2 million in turnover – a margin of 10.8%. 10.50am BST 10:50 The Green Party's occasionally fractious leadership contest has entered its final stages as members begin voting on Friday. The party's more than 60,000 members face a choice between MPs Adrian Ramsay and Ellie Chowns, and an insurgent campaign led by London Assembly member Zack Polanski. Ramsay, a current co-leader of the party, and Chowns have said that the Greens should 'double down' on the 'proven techniques' that saw them quadruple their representation in Westminster last year. But Polanski has urged the party to be 'bold', pushing an 'eco-populist' stance and seeking to emulate Nigel Farage's success in creating headlines and catapulting his Reform UK to the top of the opinion polls. Ramsay and Chowns have accused Polanski of using 'polarising' language that only appealed to a 'narrow segment' of voters. 10.33am BST 10:33 The government will tighten eligibility criteria for Whitehall internships as part of a broader push to make the civil service more representative of the working class. According to the BBC, the main internship scheme will now be limited to students from 'lower socio-economic backgrounds' and based on which occupations their parents held when they were 14. Pat McFadden, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and the minister responsible for civil service reform, said that Whitehall needed to reflect the broader community, PA reported. 'We need to get more working-class young people into the Civil Service so it harnesses the broadest range of talent and truly reflects the country,' he told the BBC. 'Government makes better decisions when it represents and understands the people we serve.' Changes are expected to take effect from summer 2026 and will give young people experience writing briefings, planning events, conducting policy research and shadowing civil servants, according to the broadcaster. The existing work summer placement programme, which lasts up to eight weeks and is paid, is open to undergraduates in the final two years of their degree. 10.15am BST 10:15 Richard Adams Confucius Institutes at universities across England are under threat from new free speech rules, setting off urgent talks between ministers, vice-chancellors and regulators over the fate of the China-backed language and culture centres. Universities fear that the new regulations imposed by the Office for Students (OfS) this month will cause legal headaches with their Chinese partners, including the government in Beijing, and could lead to some being closed. University leaders claim they have been left in the dark by England's regulator over whether or not they are breaking the new rules, which bar foreign governments from vetting staff employed at the institutes. The 20 Confucius Institutes operating in England – including at the universities of Manchester, Coventry and Liverpool – are partnerships between each university, a Chinese university, and an arm of the Chinese state that provides funding. They offer Mandarin classes and promote cultural events but critics allege they also act as a Trojan horse within the education system. The Department for Education (DfE) said it 'welcomed a range of international partnerships with UK higher education' but that they had to comply with UK laws and regulations. 'It is for individual higher education providers to assess whether the criteria of existing arrangements would have the effect of restricting free speech and take steps to address that,' the DfE said. 10.00am BST 10:00 Rowena Mason The government should greatly expand family centres under the Sure Start brand to help win back Reform voters in former Labour heartlands, a commission backed by Labour politicians has said. Hilary Armstrong, the Labour peer and former cabinet minister, was among those pressing for a fuller reintroduction of family centres under the Sure Start label, saying it would help to rebuild trust in neighbourhoods damaged by austerity. Armstrong is chair of the Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods, which said its polling showed 62% of people recognised the Sure Start brand, and that 76% would like to see it revived. Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, announced last month that one-stop-shop family hubs similar to Sure Start would be introduced throughout England to give parents advice and support. The £500m project will open up to 1,000 centres from April 2026, meaning every council in England will have a family hub by 2028. It will be called Best Start and will build on the existing family hubs and the start for life programme to provide a single point of access for services in health, education and wellbeing services. The policy forms part of the government's push to replace services lost since 2010, which include the closure of more than 1,400 Sure Start centres. At their peak under Gordon Brown, there were more than 3,600 Sure Start centres, which were considered one of the previous Labour government's biggest achievements. 9.46am BST 09:46 Gwyn Topham Heathrow has submitted its 'shovel-ready' plans for a third runway as part of a £50bn investment, as the government said expanding Europe's largest airport could create 100,000 jobs and drive growth. The 2-mile (3.2km) runway expansion would cross a diverted M25 and allow more than 750 additional flights a day over London, helping bring the total annual number of passengers to 150 million. Environmental campaigners called it a 'doomed scheme' that would release millions of tonnes of CO2 while benefiting only a small minority of rich flyers. Heathrow said that with government support it could obtain planning permission by 2029 and have the runway in operation by 2035. Its proposals remain essentially the same as those submitted in 2019 and approved in principle by the government and MPs. That scheme survived a brief block on climate grounds sparked by legal challenges from campaigners, overturned on appeal in 2020. However, the plans were put on hold as passenger numbers dropped during the pandemic. The shareholders in the airport, which include the French private equity firm Ardian and Saudi Arabia and Qatar's sovereign wealth funds, are seeking legislative change, as well as long-term political support, before filing a full planning application. Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, has strongly endorsed expansion, but Heathrow is seeking firm policy guarantees after previous runway plans were overturned. 9.28am BST 09:28 Good morning and welcome to the UK politics blog. My name is Tom Ambrose and I'll be bringing you all the latest news lines throughout the day. We start with news that the Treasury should consider a wealth tax to close the growing gap in the public finances, according to a Labour former shadow chancellor. Anneliese Dodds, who held the role under Keir Starmer in opposition, said ministers must have a 'full and frank discussion' with the public about the 'really big decisions' they had to take at this autumn's budget. With Rachel Reeves aiming to fill a financial hole that economists say could exceed £20bn, the senior Labour MP said there was 'no silver bullet' to funding big-ticket items such as defence, but the chancellor should consider tax rises. Dodds quit her post as international development minister in February over the government's decision to slash the aid budget to pay for increased defence spending – a move she said was a mistake that would have a big impact on global security. With Russia and China already stepping into the gap to boost their own global influence, she said now was not the time for the UK to be 'walking back' from using soft power. Read the full report here: Reeves is visit Scotland later today. She will visit RAF Lossiemouth in Moray and the St Fergus gas plant in Aberdeenshire on Friday. The chancellor is expected to meet with 200 Boeing employees at the Lossiemouth military base, where three E-7 Wedgetail aircraft are being worked on, the National reports. The UK government has previously said that its plan to increase defence spending to 2.6% of GDP could boost the economy by around 0.3% and create 26,100 jobs in Scotland. In other developments: The UK's plan to recognise a Palestinian state is compliant with international law, a minister has said, after a group of peers raised concerns that it did not meet the legal bar. Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, defended the fact that the government's plan for recognising Palestinian statehood does not involve firm 'conditions' being placed on Hamas, saying the government could not make the decision conditional on what Hamas does because it does not negotiate with terrorist organisations. Nine out of 10 nurses have rejected their 3.6% pay award for this year and warned that they could strike later this year unless their salaries are improved. Mary-Ann Stephenson has been confirmed as the new chair of the equalities watchdog, after the government overruled the objections of parliament's equalities committee over her suitability for the job.
The Sun
20 minutes ago
- The Sun
Major energy supplier to give away free electricity in August – exact day you can claim
A MAJOR energy supplier is giving away free electricity to households this month. EDF is to offer six hours of free electricity to customers in August as part of its Sunday Saver Challenges. 1 Households who register for the scheme can get free power on Sunday, August 10, between 2pm and 8pm. To be eligible, you must sign up to take part in the next Sunday Saver challenge by August 9. Households who took part in the June challenge or registered for the provider's free electricity event in July will automatically be included and don't need to register. EDF's Sunday Saver challenge gives customers the chance to earn free power on Sundays by changing when they use electricity during the week. Households can earn up to 16 hours of free electricity a week by moving their energy away from the weekday peak hours of 4-7pm. The more electricity customers shift away from these hours, the more free electricity they can earn. To sign up, simply visit Next, go to the 'About Me' section, select 'Smart Meter Preferences' and choose the half-hourly option. You need a smart meter that can send readings every half hour, or you must be able to set it up for 30-minute reads. Rich Hughes, Director of Retail at EDF: "Customers will have six hours of free electricity to power their summer fun, whether it's a family bake off, karaoke session or movie marathon, all while tackling the never-ending laundry pile. Stop Making This Air Conditioning Mistake: How to Slash Your Summer Energy Bill 'And by joining the next Sunday Saver challenge, those who shift their energy use outside peak times could earn up to 16 hours of free electricity – and when combined with our new tariff, customers can save even more cash on their bills.' EDF is not the only energy supplier that will give you free electricity. Next Next is giving new and existing customers free electricity during every bank holiday until March 2026. The next one is on the August Bank Holiday on August 25. Next had said the deal could save households £3.50 on every bank holiday - which adds up to around £21 over the course of a year. To be eligible, you needed to sign up for the supplier's Pledge Tariff in February. The deal is fixed for a year and offers a rate that tracks below the Ofgem price cap, which is currently £1,720 a year for a typical household. Octopus Energy Octopus Energy customers who register for Octoplus can take part in free electricity sessions when the wholesale price falls below zero. The sessions are an hour each and customers can use electricity and receive credits for using more electricity than normal. All customers with a smart meter, including smart prepayment meters, receive an alert the day before a session. When the sessions begin they can increase their energy usage, for example by running the washing machine or cooking. Any electricity they use beyond their normal usage is credited back to their account. Scottish Power Scottish Power's Power Saver scheme gives customers the chance to access half-price electricity between 11am and 4pm every Saturday and Sunday. Customers need to sign up to become a Power Saver to get half of the cost of the energy they use during these hours refunded. The supplier has also launched an ad-hoc Power Saver event. You must have a smart meter to become a Power Saver. To sign up, visit the Scottish Power website. British Gas British Gas gives customers the chance to get half-price electricity with its Green Flex events. The energy giant runs the scheme when it is windy or sunny and lots of renewable energy is available. To sign up, customers need to be a British Gas customer, have a smart meter and register online for the PeakSave scheme. If you are already signed up for the scheme you do not need to do anything extra to cash in on the savings. All savings will appear as credit on customers' energy bills.
